77% of flights from London’s largest airport to top 10 romantic destinations were delayed or cancelled last Feb 14 weekend. Heathrow to JFK and Newark were the worst affected routes with 91% and 88% of flights affected respectively.
Heathrow is the worst offender for disrupting romantic Valentine’s getaways, according to new data from flightright, the consumer portal for air passenger compensation on delayed, cancelled or overbooked flights. 77% of flights from Heathrow to the top 10 weekend destinations in the research were delayed or cancelled over Valentine’s weekend last year.
Gatwick was next in the league of delays and cancellations with 49% of Valentine’s weekend flights affected. Stansted fared best with only 32% of February 14th weekend flights affected.
Percentage of flights to top romantic destinations delayed or cancelled/by departure airport (Feb 14-16 2014)
|
Heathrow |
77% |
|
Gatwick |
49% |
|
Edinburgh |
42% |
|
Manchester |
38% |
|
Stansted |
32% |
Heathrow to JFK and Newark were the worst affected routes with 91% and 88% of flights affected respectively. And people from Manchester wanting to fly via Heathrow, or spending a weekend in London, found that 81% of departures were disrupted.
Most delayed or cancelled routes (Feb 14-16 2014)
|
Heathrow to JFK |
91% |
|
Heathrow to Newark |
88% |
|
Manchester to Heathrow |
81% |
|
Gatwick to Prague |
75% |
|
Heathrow to Vienna |
73% |
|
Edinburgh to Heathrow |
71% |
|
Heathrow to Rome Fiumicino |
68% |
|
Heathrow to Paris Charles de Gaulle |
66% |
|
Heathrow to Amsterdam |
65% |
|
Heathrow to Prague |
63% |
And it seems New York should be avoided if you’re whisking away your loved one. Of all the flights to the Big Apple reviewed by flightright, 84% were delayed or cancelled. Vienna was second worst with 61% of flights disrupted.
Percentage of flights to top romantic destinations delayed or cancelled/by destination – departures from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Edinburgh (Feb 14-16 2014)
|
New York*** |
84% |
|
Vienna |
61% |
|
London** |
61% |
|
Paris |
55% |
|
Rome |
55% |
|
Florence |
50% |
|
Budapest |
47% |
|
Amsterdam |
44% |
|
Prague |
42% |
|
Venice |
38% |
* Figures are based on a flightright evaluation of flights between 14/2/14-16/2/14 from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester and Edinburgh to Rome, Vienna, Venice, Florence, New York, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Prague and Budapest. Destinations were picked as being popular Valentine destinations rather than for the frequency of flights.
** Flights to Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted
*** Flights to JFK and Newark
Marek Janetzke, Managing Director of flightright, said: “Valentine’s weekend is a peak time for jetting off on romantic getaways and with the unpredictable February weather, delays and cancellations are common. Our data might help people to choose the best destinations that are least likely to be disrupted.
“Unfortunately, most passengers still do not know about their rights as airlines frequently leave them without information or don’t tell them that they are entitled to compensation or support. It only takes a three hour delay to be eligible for compensation of around £200.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
